Developmental Psychology Laboratory

Objectives

1) Identify the main paradigms of research in the field of child and adolescent development;

2) Understand the delimitation of a research problem in face of the state of knowledge and contexts;

3) Plan small research processes within the themes inherent to the study of conceptual development in childhood, enunciating issues, delimiting objects of studies, defining objectives and selecting appropriate methodologies;

4) Perform electronic searches of bibliography of the specialty;

5) Carry out syntheses of empirical studies, comparing and integrating approaches, procedures and results;

6) Produce, analyze and interpret research data;

7) To elaborate a report of scientific nature, constructing and interpreting devices of synthesis and systematization of data;

8) Disseminate, through conventional scientific communication methodologies, processes and results on the problem studied.

Program

1) Approaches to research and intervention in human development.
2) The study of children and child development: fields of research with distinct agendas;
3) Ethical issues associated with research and intervention processes in human development.
4) Design and evaluation of programs to stimulate development and early intervention.
5) Adaptations of methods of data collection to the study of the child.
6) Devices for the synthesis and systematization of scientific data.
7) Discussion and interpretation of scientific information.
8) Basic skills to communicate science.
The emphasis in the methodology of investigation and intervention present in this curricular unit implies the opening to several concrete objects of research, summoning concepts and theories of the Psychology of Child, Adolescent, Adult and Senior Development.

Teaching Methodologies

São contempladas aulas de grande grupo e tutoriais. As primeiras, inicialmente mais centradas na exposição dialogada de conteúdos e na discussão dirigida em seminários pela docente, passam progressivamente a constituir um espaço para os estudantes darem conta da evolução dos seus trabalhos de pesquisa e problematizarem as tomadas de decisão inerentes às etapas subsequentes. As aulas de carácter tutorial visam o acompanhamento e supervisão de cada pesquisa em curso, desenvolvida através de uma metodologia próxima à do trabalho de projeto.

A par do trabalho realizado nas aulas, os alunos desenvolvem atividades de pesquisa bibliográfica, de recensão crítica e de planeamento, recolha e análise de dados, ensaiando a aplicação de ferramentas.

A disponibilização de materiais, a participação em fóruns e a entrega de trabalhos, bem como o esclarecimento de dúvidas, são efetuados através do Moodle.

Bibliography

Information available soon.